Last time I had decided to present on the topic of communication - it's history etc. Pecha Kucha is too fast for a "this is the history of communication" presentation. In putting ideas onto post-it notes, I counted dozens before I have even reached cave paintings.
Tip #1 - Pick a topic small enough to fit into 6 minutes (+) yet with enough substance to satisy your audience
Playing with various ideas involved intense and active pondering - despite outward appearances!
Tip #2 - Try talking off the cuff about your chosen topic and see how much you have to say - time yourself and then work out what to cut out.
After much editing, revising and some practices that helped me learn just how little I can say in 20 seconds (without a machine-gun delivery), I came down to using the Seven Deadly Sins of Presentations.
Tip #3 - Practice the timing after you've done your slides - does the story flow?
For each sin, there is a virtue, so without effort I had 14 topics/ slides at my fingertips. I searched the net and found images of slides, and presenters and some random images to suit the presentation. With a few more hours refining and altering the build-up and finale, it was done (phew!).
Tip #4 - Practice the story - do you stumble over any of your ideas or phrases?
As I did a dry run, the actual names of the sins and virtues was causing me too much anxiety, so after creating the slideshow, I ditched the Sins and changed the title to "Presenter Heroes and Zeroes". Perhaps another night to think would have improved that one!
Tip #5 - Remember, it is only Pecha Kucha night!
Today is the day that I present at Huddersfield Pecha Kucha night #2. Wish me luck!
Showing posts with label tone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tone. Show all posts
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Storytelling - Words, Song and Dance
When you are getting ready to deliver a workshop, a lecture or a presentation, what do you spend the most time preparing?
Chances are you spend the most time preparing what you are going to say. In fact, apart from your slides and handouts, which are just notes to enhance or supplement what you are going to say, many of us spend 100% of our time on this aspect of our presentations.
Yet a huge percentage of our message and our impact comes from not WHAT we say, but HOW we say it - our body language, and our tone.
Great storytellers practice their delivery in detail:
* where and how long to pause
* words to stress
* phrases or elements that are whispered, shouted, or just said
* when it is appropriate to add physical movements or acting to draw the audience in
* when to use facial expressions to enhance the story
Not only that, but a story teller is acutely aware of their audience and uses feedback to modify their story telling. So why not think like a storyteller for your next presentation and spend a little more time on HOW you deliver it, as well as WHAT you will say?
Chances are you spend the most time preparing what you are going to say. In fact, apart from your slides and handouts, which are just notes to enhance or supplement what you are going to say, many of us spend 100% of our time on this aspect of our presentations.
Yet a huge percentage of our message and our impact comes from not WHAT we say, but HOW we say it - our body language, and our tone.
Great storytellers practice their delivery in detail:
* where and how long to pause
* words to stress
* phrases or elements that are whispered, shouted, or just said
* when it is appropriate to add physical movements or acting to draw the audience in
* when to use facial expressions to enhance the story
Not only that, but a story teller is acutely aware of their audience and uses feedback to modify their story telling. So why not think like a storyteller for your next presentation and spend a little more time on HOW you deliver it, as well as WHAT you will say?
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